The present invention relates generally to turf maintenance machines adapted to mill or process aerated cores, to mow and/or to power rake, and more particularly to a novel mulching bar adapted to improve the operational performance of such a maintenance machine by recycling the processed turf material for optimum results.
It is a common practice in the maintenance of turf surfaces, including residential and commercial lawns and golf courses, as well as relatively undeveloped turf surfaces, to perform a number of horticultural and/or agronomic maintenance tasks including, but not exclusively restricted to flail mowing, processing aerated cores, power raking or verticutting, the latter process involving the subsurface cutting of turf rhizomes. In some cases, several of these operations may be performed by a single machine adapted to be coupled to the front end of a tractor or other self-propelled turf maintenance vehicle. Such a machine, referred to hereinafter as a core processor/power rake (CP/PR), includes a transverse rotating flail reel assembly having a plurality of radially projecting impact elements or blades especially adapted for the specific operation, i.e., mowing, core processing, or power raking.
As the CP/PR travels across the turf surface, the reel is adapted to flail, cut, rake, process aerated cores, etc., as called for in the particular process, and to deposit the processed material upon the turf surface. When used for core processing, it is common for the impact elements to fail to collect all cores in a single pass. Thus, in many instances, the CP/PR must make multiple passes to collect and adequately process the residue left on the turf by an aerator or by the first pass of the CP/PR. The residue is processed by further comminution or pulverization to facilitate its decomposition and to distribute a relatively uniform layer of organic material upon the turf.
It is preferred that a single machine perform both the initial turf maintenance operation as well as the residue comminution or pulverization operation. In the case of the mowing operation, conventional rotary mowers, called "mulching mowers", have been adapted to redirect the flow of cut grass into the rotating blade so as to reduce the bulk of the clippings and thus distribute them upon the turf as a mulch having beneficial horticultural properties. However, conventional CP/PRs are not capable of directing or redirecting the flow of processed particles into the rotating reel. In the case of aeration, in which cylindrical cores or plugs composed of grass, roots and soil are pulled from the turf to encourage turf root development, the cores which are left on the turf surface need to be ground or pulverized, both to return the soil nutrients to the turf and to remove the unsightly cores from the turf surface. Thus, the adequate pulverization of aerated cores is important to proper turf maintenance.
Thus, there is a need in the turf maintenance industry for a single machine capable of performing the operations of mowing, core processing, and/or power raking, as well as the corresponding residue processing operation. Accordingly, the mulching bar of the invention is designed to be mounted on a conventional CP/PR turf maintenance machine so as to direct the flow of processed particulate turf material into the rotating flail reel for more complete comminution.